Archive for October, 2012

Before the vampire craze of the late aughties there was “The Lost Boys.” Here’s my review from June 6, 2011. Living in the modern era of overdone vampire stories, “The Lost Boys” makes for a worthy retro antidote. With films and TV shows full of characters who simply are vampires these days, “Lost Boys” reminds […]

Nothing about the premise of “Pitch Perfect” suggests it should be a funny movie, or anything more than a diversion for “Glee” fans who’ve burnt out on the hit show after three-plus seasons. A cappella groups might be a change of pace for Hollywood, but college humor isn’t, with most college comedies going straight to […]

The moment “Moornise Kingdom” graces the screen, it is a Wes Anderson film. The first major sequence, the symmetrical exploration of the Bishop house, couldn’t be mistaken for any other filmmaker’s style — nor could the rest of the film, honestly. So if Anderson is just as divisively quirky as ever, why has “Moonrise Kingdom” […]

I feel like everything I’ve posted for my horror archive reviews this month has been a film that received or will receive a remake! This “Evil Dead” review comes from July 25, 2011. You might never suspect a relationship between horror and comedy — which means you’ve never seen a Sam Raimi horror film. Although […]

I was a big fan of “Seven Psychopaths,” and considering that part of the film involves Colin Farrell’s Marty attempting to assemble seven psychopaths for his screenplay, I thought it would be interesting to assemble seven of my favorite movie psychopaths of all time into a group that you’d want to stay far, far away […]

A fitting archive review for this weekend with “Paranormal Activity 4” in theaters (and some news that Sam Raimi could direct the remake of this one). From August 23, 2010. Some will say “Jaws” and other will say “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but the 1982 “Poltergeist” offers the Exhibit B for of the […]

My review of this foreign horror film comes from Halloween 2010. Foreign language films lose out on a wider audience for two reasons: limited distribution and subtitles. Most audiences view subtitles as a hurdle to their enjoyment of a film, but regardless of whether that’s a founded argument, it’s inconsequential for “Let the Right One […]

When you let a child play with the same toys over and over again, you’re going to end up with some stale make-believe. Tim Burton has pulled his Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter dolls out of his play chest again and decided this time they’re engaged in a supernatural love story taking place in […]

Exfiltration specialist Tony Mendez received the highest honor that can possibly be awarded in Intelligence for his work during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979, and the man who played him and directed his story in “Argo,” Ben Affleck, will find himself quite decorated as well if he continues to make films at this quality […]

In the marketing for “Seven Psychopaths,” CBS Films wants you to count the film’s seven stars, but the one real psychopath (and I mean that in most positive and endearing way possible) that matters is writer and director Martin McDonagh, whose sophomore film and follow-up to “In Bruges” is a cockeyed stroke of genius.

I finally saw the original zombie-mall masterpiece back in April. It’s rather striking how much “Dawn of the Dead” feels like its own original film. Maybe its the move from black and white to color or the complete change in main characters, but outside of that, it’s entirely the same concept as its predecessor.

The recent trend of comedies centered on experimental relationships continues with “Friends with Kids,” which explores what happens when longtime best friends who both want kids decide to have a baby to avoid the complications raising children has on romantic relationships. It seems like a Hollywood-typical setup, but writer, director and star Jennifer Westfeldt (“Kissing […]

Liam Neeson’s action-man renaissance in 2008’s “Taken” was a most unheralded critical and box-office hit for a seemingly generic revenge flick. Writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen managed to captivate audiences with a streamlined story of a retired CIA operative using his skills to locate and rescue his kidnapped daughter. It was a simple […]

Everything that makes high school an evil, evil place comes to the forefront in “Carrie,” or at least all the worst possible combinations of things that could literally make high school hell. Brian De Palma brings Stephen King’s first novel to life as part coming-of-age drama, part obnoxious high school movie and part horror film […]